In the true spirit of the venue, St. Petersburg’s House of Nationalities in Russia is holding an International Day of Tolerance celebration.

Over a hundred international communities are represented here, and are showcasing their special cultures.

Andrew arrived from Nigeria for study. He ended up staying, and has lived in St. Petersburg for 20 years. Now a Russian citizen, Andrew calls himself Afro-Russian.

[Andrew Suberu, NGO African Unity]:
"Tolerance means to tolerate each other. We must respect other nations to help each other. All are equal in front of God, regardless of skin color or religion. We need to stop racism. No more attacks. No killings. And not just towards us — this concerns any nationality."

Andrew is a doctor. In his spare time he works as an actor. Today he came to share cultural traditions of his country. He says that his drum disperses evil spirits.

[Andrew Suberu, NGO African Unity]:
"This is our culture. These are masks, this is an African elephant, this is our palm tree, it grows in Africa.”

One ensemble is more familiar to the Russian audience. It represents the people of northern Komi, a region in Russia.

[Valentine Zezekova, Dzhoridzh Member]:
"I am very happy to be here. Here we have lots of friends. We are friends with the Chuvashi people, and with the Finns. We have common holidays. It is so good to bring people happiness."

Participants of the festival believe that tolerance is very important for multicultural cities like St. Petersburg.

The International Day of Tolerance was established by UNESCO in November 1995 to mark the organization's 50th anniversary.

NTD, St. Petersburg, Russia